Gender and informal livelihoods

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.*Related content and download information correct at time of download. Purpose -This paper explores the perceptions and experiences of women and men who work as informal waste collectors in four different cities. The purpose of this paper is to map out how and to what extent occupational, political-legal, economic and social dynamics are experienced differently by gender in a highly vulnerable segment of the urban informal economy, and explore gender differences in these workers' coping strategies and the levels of action they develop to protect their livelihoods. Design/methodology/approach -The analysis is based on a mixed methods study which combined a quantitative survey of informal workers with a qualitative participatory methodology. Study participants were drawn from a purposive sample of informal workers who belong to, or are affiliated with, membershipbased workers' organisations. The sample consists of waste pickers (n ¼ 614) from Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Bogotá, Colombia; Durban, South Africa; and Nakuru, Kenya. Findings -The data show that despite significant differences between women and men upon entry into (informal) employment, their perceptions of key drivers and impacts are largely similar, with the exception of concerns around various types of physical security among women. They also indicate that levels of action among men and women waste pickers are only moderately influenced by gender, but are strongly influenced by the degree of organisation in the sector and the symbolic assets held by workers. The findings also illustrate the way in which gendered power dynamics operate within the informal recycling sector and how different levels of sector organisation and development often contribute to opportunities for collective action and, in turn, a reduction in gendered vulnerabilities. Originality/value -The study offers a new policy angle which connects the level of sector organisation and development with the levels of action taken by informal workers in adapting to different types of shocks The The authors thank Jason Heyes, Joanna Shapland and two anonymous reviewers for their feedback on this paper; Anisa Desai for her valuable research assistance; the research team...

Labour, waste and the circular economy in Bangkok

“…One female waste picker mentioned that "convenience is my priority as we have many children -five children." These results offer some insights into how gender norms and discrimination can further disempower female waste pickers, which is in line with the evidence from other studies on the Global South (Dias and Fernandez, 2013;Ogando et al, 2017).…”

Determinants of the Level of Informalization of Enterprises: Some Evidence From Accra, Ghana

“…Although the vast majority of studies of informality are focused on estimating its size, recent years have seen a growing number of attempts to understand the characteristics of entrepreneurs and enterprises operating in the informal sector not only in Ghana in particular (Adom, 2014;Akorsu and Akorsu, 2009;Koto, 2015;Obeng-Odoom, 2016;Ofori, 2009) but also more widely (Aidis et al, 2006;Bureau and Fendt, 2011;Kahn, 2017;Ram et al, 2017;Siba, 2015;Thai and Turkina, 2014;Webb et al, 2013;Williams and Krasniqi, 2018;Williams et al, 2017). Although there are mixed findings on whether women participate more than men (Adom, 2014;Agarwala, 2009;Obeng-Odoom, 2016;Ogando et al, 2017;Petersen and Charman, 2018;Williams and Gurtoo, 2012), this is not the case with age. A U-shaped curve has been identified in relation to the age of owners of informal enterprises, with younger and older persons being more likely to operate informally, both in Ghana (Adom and Williams, 2014;Akorsu and Akorsu, 2009) and elsewhere (e.g., Asian Development Bank, 2010; Williams and Martinez, 2014).…”

Untitled

“…Como se visualiza en la figura 3, los RP son fundamentales en la cadena de valor y es relevante exponer las condiciones bajo las cuales ellos realizan la actividad. Al conformarse por un 76,7% de mujeres y 23,3% de hombres, se respalda lo que la International Labour Office (ILO) alega sobre la mayor participación de mujeres en el empleo informal (citado por Ogando, Roever, & Rogan, 2017) quienes han encontrado en el reciclaje una oportunidad laboral. Su edad promedio bordea los 45 años, registrándose una edad mínima de 19 y máxima de 77 años.…”